US: High calorie comfort foods such as pizza and burgers top for death row inmates’ last meals

Chips, soft drinks, ice cream, hamburgers, chicken, steak and pie are commonly requested items among inmates facing imminent execution, according to researchers at Cornell University, who have studied 193 last meal requests in the US.

The final meals are an enduring source of fascination – did those convicted of heinous crimes opt for a lobster dinner or baked beans? Requests vary greatly, but the researchers found some trends.

Perhaps, unsurprisingly, many last meal requests are tasty but unhealthy. More than two-thirds of the condemned ordered fried foods, mostly chips (French fries) , and they ordered dessert at about the same rate. Inmates were five times more likely to request a soft drink (soda) than milk.

The average meal request came in at an estimated 2,756 calories, more than an average man needs in a day. Researchers estimated that four of the meal requests tallied more than 7,200 calories, including a request for 12 pieces of fried chicken, two buttered rolls, mashed potatoes with gravy, two soft drinks and a pint each of strawberry and vanilla ice cream.

Comfort foods were popular. More than a third of the condemned asked for the most popular meat, chicken, followed by hamburger (24 per cent) and steak (22 per cent). Four per cent requested fast-food from chains such as McDonald’s or KFC.

Fruits and vegetables were much less popular, though more than a quarter requested a salad.

Researcher Brian Wansink said the popularity of comfort foods and brand-name products such as Coca-Cola could reflect people trying to deal with high stress by seeking out the familiar. “In some ways, this might be a way to bring the level of stress and negative excitement down to something that’s a little bit more manageable,” he said. “You don’t find people going for odd types of ice cream. They go for chocolate, vanilla.”

Researchers said it was possible some patterns, like the paucity of vegetarian meals, could reflect the socio-economic backgrounds of those on death row.

Researchers looked at 247 people executed in the US from 2002 to 2006. All but two were men, and the average age was 43. They focused on 193 meals after excluding 51 inmates who did not choose a last meal, and three who had a meal under 200 calories, including a person who requested a single pitted olive.

Mr Wansink said it was not known what inmates had eaten, only what they ordered. Researchers noted that meal requests were restricted by cost and alcohol was prohibited.

Texas stopped giving special final meals last year after an extensive request from a man being executed for his role in a notorious racist murder.

Lawrence Russell Brewer ordered two chicken fried steaks in gravy with sliced onions, a triple-meat bacon cheeseburger, a cheese omelette with other ingredients, a large bowl of fried okra with ketchup, three fajitas, a pint of ice cream and a pound of barbecue with a half-loaf of white bread.

His meal request also included a slab of peanut butter fudge with crushed peanuts, a pizza and three root beers.